


i've waited a thousand years (i'd wait a million more for you)

by madeintheam



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, F/M, i love making things hard for my otps, im sorry i loveu percy n annabeth
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-27
Updated: 2018-04-30
Packaged: 2019-04-28 16:01:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14452782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madeintheam/pseuds/madeintheam
Summary: A series of stories spanning from different lifetimes of how Percy finds Annabeth, and how Annabeth finds Percy.





	1. i promise you (i will find you)

**Author's Note:**

> Annabeth takes the stab for Percy in the Battle of Manhattan.

It was around early morning when I had reached her. The sky was a burst of orange and blue, the colors bleeding into each other like paint on a canvas, the promise of a new, better day. It was times like these when I could have sworn that the universe was trying its damn hardest to piss me off. 

As soon as I laid my eyes on her, I felt gravity pushing down on me tenfold. Will had involuntarily placed his hand under my elbow to keep me up. My eyes trailed down from her face to her stomach slowly. Everything around me grew into a hazy gray.

"Oh, gods." I choke out, stumbling towards where she lay on the lounge chair. "Annabeth..."

She manages to look up at me, the ends of her mouth slightly upturned. "Poison on the dagger, pretty stupid of me, huh?" 

I ignore her and focus my attention on the wound. I clench my hand, my fingernails biting into my palm of my hand. The wound cut deep into her skin, blood and poison trickle solidly out of her like an open faucet. The skin surrounding the cut is a deathly shade of green and black --- almost like it was dead. 

"Di immortales," Will curses next to me as he unwraps more of the wound. "This can't be happening..."

"What is it?" I demand, my vision slightly turning red. "What's wrong?"

Will tugs down Annabeth's shirt collar to reveal the deathly pale skin of her chest. Her veins were starting to turn green. Towards her left side of her chest were veins that grew darker in color, almost black. Everything starts crashing down on me just then.

"The poison..." I seethe, anger taking over my entirety. My head starts to swirl, and the air around me grows denser. My insides threaten to spontaenously combust.

Will bows his head in resignation. "I'm so sorry, Annabeth."

The area is silent, save for a few birds chirruping outside. I don't have to look behind me to know. I feel despair seep thick into the atmosphere.

It hits me like a brick. The air is thick and heavy, and I find it difficult to focus on anything. As soon as my eyesight clears up, it's only then I see how the poison has been taking a toll on Annabeth. Her eyes, usually so full of challenge and life, have resigned to a dull, pale gray. The dark circles around her eyes deepened drastically, alongside her hollow cheeks. The gray streak in her hair seems to blend in with the rest. Her lips were blue.

Yet, she still managed to place her hand on my cheek and look up at me.

"Percy..." She wheezes, and I have to strain my ears in order to hear her. "Don't..."

I interrupt her, placing my hand over hers and squeeze gently. "Gods, Annabeth. You shouldn't have taken that knife for me. Gods, you're so stupid."

"You would've... done the same... for... me..." She manages to say, her breathing slow. 

Tears threaten to spill from my eyes. I'm not sure if they're from anger or grief. "Don't you dare leave me, Annabeth." I hiss through my teeth, looking straight into her eyes. "Gods, don't you dare."

Annabeth manages a small smile. "Or... what?"

"Goddamnit, Annabeth." A sob tears through me. "Don't joke about things like that."

She rubs her thumb onto the skin of my cheek. "I thought... I was the... serious one..."

I'm about to reply when a shudder runs through her. I turn to Will quickly, but he's gone to the front of the crowd behind us, fidgeting with his fingers. He looks up at me with an expression of misery and surrender. 

I turn to look at the other campers, my voice laced with desperation. "Anyone? Please! Gods, just help her!" 

I meet the faces of dejection and sorrow. I see the eyes of people who have already accepted. Some bow their heads, too heartbroken to meet me in the eyes. Some lean onto each other for support. My heart constricts on itself, and I fall to my knees in front of Annabeth's small figure on the couch. 

I feel fury surging through my veins. I turn to look back at Annabeth, who scans my fave intently, as if trying to memorize every single feature. 

"Percy." She says, her eyes fluttering shut. "I..."

I grasp onto her hand, as if that could save her. "You're not leaving me." My words come out weak, as if I'm trying to convince myself.

Annabeth's breathing becomes laboured and short, and her body jerks violently. "Always..." She manages to say. "With you..."

I lean closer to her until our foreheads touch. I can feel the burning heat of her flesh searing into mine. "I'd go to the Underworld," I say through clenched teeth. "Just to bring you back."

Annabeth is quiet, but her eyes look up into mine. 

"I will tear down Olympus brick by brick." I vow, holding onto her hand tightly. I look straight into the pale gray. "I swear on the River Styx, I will find you. I'll find you in the next thousand lifetimes. I'll look and I won't ever stop until we're together again. I won't ever be too far. I will always find you." 

Her hand goes slack in mine, and I close my eyes shut. 

My head falls back, almost giving me a whiplash, and an agonizing scream escapes my lips. I feel all the pent up fatigue, desperation, and fury from the war I've been bottling in, I feel all the pain of what was, what is, and what will be. All the sources of water within my reach explode, including the ones outside the building. Car alarms beep loudIy from outside, and the nearby birds squawk in return. I hear alarmed yells from the people surrounding us, but the pain doesn't subside. I feel all the frustration and torment wrack through my body. My voice soon betrays me and my scream soon diminishes to sobbing.

I bury my head into Annabeth's neck, and for the first time, there's no pulse. My sobs wrack through my body, everything crumbles down. The taste of death burns inside my mouth and sears my tongue, hard to swallow.


	2. i’ve been living on the crumbs of your love (and i’m starving now)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annabeth and Percy reunite in Camp Jupiter.

My hand reaches out to grasp the railing — I need to steady myself and get a grip before I tumble over and faint. I feel his presence. I feel it in the air. He’s near.

But would he still be the same? A voice in the back of my head asked. Would he even remember?  
Of course he’ll remember, another spoke back. Jason did, eventually.  
How are you so sure? The first voice bit back. He’s been away for a long time.

He was always with me, though. I felt him in the warm July breeze, I felt him in the small puddles of water yesterday’s rain left. I saw him in the blue of the night, and how lights would reflect off of the rippling water of the lake. I sensed him everywhere. I saw him in the blue muffins served in the dining pavilion every Tuesday morning, I heard him through the tinkling of the wind chimes of the Poseidon cabin, I basked in his presence whenever I visited Sally. I felt him in the blue trident bead that hung on my neck, I saw him in the scar on my shoulder from the Battle of Manhattan. In those few months of his disappearance, I was never really alone. Not really. 

But what if he has forgotten? The voice persists in the back of my head. 

I close my eyes, letting the wind ease my nerves. Inhale, exhale. 

I jump up when a hand closes in on my shoulder. I turn around quickly to see that it’s Piper.

“You’re worried, aren’t you?” Piper asks. “Why? We finally found him — you finally found him. Aren’t you supposed to be happy?”

I look away, unable to look her in the eye. 

Piper frowns slightly. “What are you scared of? The Romans? Look, I know they probably aren’t the nicest people, but they’re probably polite enough to hear what we have to say —“

I interrupt her. “It’s not them I’m worried about.”

Piper’s eyes then gleam with understanding. “...Percy?”

My throat constricts. His name was almost like a taboo to me in the last few weeks. I’ve spent countless days trying to look for him, and when I wasn’t looking, he still lingered in my mind. The first few days after he disappeared, I was furious with him. I thought he had run away. Anger then led to confusion. Why would he run away? He was the goddamn saviour of Olympus. He led the war, he defeated Kronos, he had sacrificed the most. Why would he run away after that? Confusion turned to determination. He had to be around New York, somewhere. He couldn’t have gotten far without the gods noticing. It turned out, though, that communication with the gods was futile. They had shut down Olympus completely, wiping it off the map just like that. My determination had led to anger again. The gods were hiding something from us — hiding Percy from me. I used my anger as fuel to keep searching. Soon, days grew into weeks, and what once were hopeful endeavours was now wishful thinking. 

Everything changed when Jason had arrived.

At the end of his quest, he had explained that he supposedly came from another camp for demigods. The idea seemed so ridiculous at first, but then it all made sense. Of course the gods would have wanted us Greeks to know nothing about the Romans, and vice versa. They kept us hidden away from each other, trying to avoid conflict. Jason had explained that Hera had a plan to unite both camps together. By taking the leader of each camp, erasing their memories, and switching their places.

Jason’s words resonated deep inside me.

Percy Jackson is at the other camp, and he probably doesn’t even remember who he is.

I wanted to laugh when he had said that. Her boyfriend was forgetful, sure, but forgetting himself? Not knowing where he was from, what he was, not even his name? Not even a swim in the River Lethe was strong enough to empower Percy. But this was Hera they were talking about. The gods were cruel, and they would do anything in their power to get what they want. The thought made me choke back a sob. He was Percy — her Percy. Her Percy, who had defeated the Minotaur and went to the Underworld and back when he was merely 12. Her Percy, who had sailed across the Sea of Monsters to bring the Golden Fleece to save Camp Half-Blood. Her Percy, who had literally held up the sky. Her Percy, who could have stayed with Calypso in Ogygia, but had chosen to leave because he couldn’t leave the world to be destroyed at the hands of Kronos. Her Percy, who had turned jumped into the River Lethe and turned down immortality. Even the thought of him not remembering that was enough to make her crumple up and weep. 

Piper squeezes my hand gently, and my eyes focus on her again. “You shouldn’t be worried. Jason was a bit fuzzy at first, but he ended up just fine. He’s all okay now. He’s still the Jason I once knew. I’m sure Percy is, too.”

I sense she used a bit of her charmspeak to put me at ease, but her words still slip past me; my thoughts still lingering on the small yet entirely plausible possibility that he has changed, and that he isn’t the Percy I once knew.

I give Piper a smile for her sake, and I put on a brave face. “Time to negotiate with some Romans, then.”

—

Their descent on the Roman camp (named Camp Jupiter — as if Zeus needed anything to add to his large ego to begin with) had flown past her quickly. Terminus, the statue at the border of New Rome, had refused to let them land. I had rebutted quickly. I didn’t have time for nonsense, not when I was so close to Percy. Leo had unwillingly left the ship afloat, technically not touching the ground. The others had congratulated her for manoeuvring through the camp’s regulations, but Annabeth had too much on her mind to accept their thanks. His presence was overpowering her, making her feel light-headed. Soon enough, they stood a few feet away from where the Romans were. 

One girl stood in front of the lines, her jaw set firm and her head held high. Her eyes were an endless sea of harsh black. Jason had mentioned that her name was Reyna — daughter of Bellona, praetor of Camp Jupiter. I wasn’t here for her, though.

My whole world stops when someone appears from the crowd behind Reyna, and suddenly, it’s just him. It’s only ever been about him.

He looks much more different. He looks taller and leaner, the muscles of his arms more defined. He stands more confident than he did before. There’s something different about his aura, something more regal and poised. But it’s undoubtedly him. It’s him in all his messy black haired, sea green eyed, troublemaker smiled glory. My heart threatens to jump out of my mouth, and I have to remind myself to breathe slowly. How do you breathe, again? 

Before I’m able to run across the space between and jump into his arms, Reyna clears her throat. Her eyes scan between us warily, until they land on Jason.

“Jason,” she starts, her voice slightly strained. “I’m glad to see you alive and well.”

Jason chuckles, clearly more comfortable with the circumstances than any of us are. “I missed you too, Reyna.” He gestures to Piper, Leo, Coach, and I. “These are my friends from Camp Half Blood.”

Reyna bows her head slightly in acknowledgement, then turns to Percy. “This is Percy Jackson, my fellow praetor, who I believe is one of them, as well.”

This is my cue to start. I walk forward several steps, my hand reaching out to him. He’s so close, he’s so close I can almost feel him. “Percy.” I say, and the whole camp hushes. “Percy, it’s me.” I say with everything I’ve been feeling these past few months. 

Percy’s eyes fall on mine. But they don’t hold the usual gleam they do. They don’t hold that mischievous glint they used to do. They are still the same, sea green eyes I see every night before I sleep and every day when I wake, but they aren’t. They hold hesitance and uncertainty. They belong to someone who doesn’t have a clue what’s going on.

He doesn’t remember. 

“Percy...?” My voice cracks, and the truth dawns on me. “Percy, it’s me. Annabeth. Your Wise Girl.” 

Percy continues to stare at me, not even a flicker of recognition in his eyes. He just looks at me with sadness. 

“Seaweed Brain?” My voice is barely audible now. My breath hitches in my throat, and I feel all the pain and longing and anguish in the world wash through me. I almost stumble, and a thousand voices begin screaming at my head, almost tearing it apart. They all say the same thing.

He doesn’t remember.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> twitter: dylanmxlencion  
> ig: dihluhn
> 
> don’t be a stranger :)

**Author's Note:**

> twitter: dylanmxlencion  
> ig: dihluhn 
> 
> don't be a stranger :)


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